Table 2
by ZeusParker
Summary: At Luke & Lorelei's wedding, an unlikely friendly conversation sparks.


"That certainly was a beautiful ceremony, wasn't it?" Emily Gilmore said to the two men sharing her table at the (official) wedding of her daughter Lorelai and long-time beau Luke Danes.

Jack Smith simply raised a glass towards the sky and smiled. "Reminds me of my own," he said. "And of your renewal ceremony with Richard. I just hope he could see it from up there."

Jess Mariano simply nodded. He agreed, of course, but didn't feel the need to say anything. About the wedding, anyway.

"Well, since you're here, Mrs. Gilmore," he said, "I just wanted to apologize, for how I acted when we first met."

"Oh, Jess," Emily said, "that was over 15 years ago."

"I know but… I imagine that Rory told you the reason I gave her, for my black eye?"

"She said that you told her it was a football injury," Emily said. "I'd be lying though if I said I believed you. But since you bring it up, what was the deal with that, really? Did you get in a fight with Dean?"

"No," Jess said, feeling embarrassment, but he'd already started this, might as well finish it. Why did I start this anyway? How much did I have to drink?

"I got beaked," he said.

"Beaked?" Jack said.

"Goose? Swan?" Emily said. Jess was floored for a second.

"Swan," he said. "You believe me?"

Emily laughed. "Oh, Jess, I wish you'd told me back then. Rory probably still wouldn't have believed you, but trust me, I've had to deal with swans before. Mean-spirited, feathered bastards, the lot of them. I had to deal with one somewhere around a month, maybe three weeks before Rory brought you to the house for lunch."

"Wait," Jack said, "so, if I understand this right, you, Luke's nephew, used to date Rory, Lorelai's daughter?"

"Yep," Jess said.

Emily laughed again. "When you say it like that you sound like bad exposition from something I had to read for the book club."

Jack shrugged. "Just making sure I'm understanding things," he said. "Your family life was even more interesting than Richard ever let on."

Jess raised a glass. "I wish I could say I got to know him better, but seeing I was an insufferable jerk-ass back then I doubt I would've appreciated it if I did."

"All teenagers are jerks," Emily said.

"Even Rory?" Jess said.

"In her own way," Emily said, "but I'll deny it if you tell anyone I said that."

"Mum's the word," Jess said. "But man, you're right, I should've said up front where I got the black eye back then."

"We all have our regrets," Emily said.

Jess couldn't think of anything to add to that.

* * *

"I don't like it," Lorelai whispered to Luke.

"Like what?" Luke said. Lorelai motioned her head in the direction of the table where her mother, Jess, and Jack Smith, the widowed friend of Richard's who Emily had been dating recently.

"I don't see the problem," Luke said. "They seem to be getting along just fine."

"Exactly," Lorelai said. "It doesn't bother you, the idea of your nephew and my mother being friendly?"

"I'm sure they're just being polite."

The sound of Jess laughing at something Emily said carried across the room.

"Okay, I'll admit that that's a little disturbing, but you know what? I'm not gonna dwell on it," Luke said, putting his hands on Lorelai's shoulders and trying to gently turn her towards the other end of the room. "C'mon. Open bar."

"You sure know how to talk to a girl, Luke," Lorelai said, smiling.

* * *

"Oh man," Jess said once he stopped laughing. "I wish I'd been there to see that."

"Same here," Jack said.

Emily shrugged. "You say that, but in order to have seen it you'd need to have been in the DAR."

"I think my favorite part," Jess said, "was when you pointed out the trophy wife's breast implants."

"Really?" Emily said. "I think my favorite part of my rant was when I said 'bullshit' six times. Or was it seven?"

"When I first heard about it," Jack said, "I actually couldn't believe it. Such language coming from Emily Gilmore? But then you told me about it, and you just looked so proud. I would never admit it away from this table since I'm still friends with some of those women's husbands, but I honestly think they had it coming."

"Like I said," Jess said, "I wish I could've seen that. Shame you didn't get in on video."

"I have that on my phone," Emily admitted, "and I even know how to use it, but honestly, it was all just so spur of the moment. If I'd planned to go off on my former clubmates, I absolutely would've loved to have the looks on their faces on my phone for posteriority. Hell, I'd have asked Rory to help me put that up on YouTube."

"I bet it would've been a huge hit," Jess said.

"Well, regardless," Emily said, taking a sip from her glass before continuing, "at least I don't have to lie about what I'm watching on NetFlix nowadays. I'm so glad I let Lorelai talked me into setting up an account, there is some amazing television on there. And some classic movies too."

"What do you mean by 'lying about what you're watching?'" Jack asked.

"I'm guessing her DAR friends wouldn't approve, am I right?" Jess said.

"Exactly," Emily said. "When I was still meeting with the girls, I'd always say I was watching things like The Crown or one of their documentaries."

"So what were you really watching?" Jess asked.

Emily looked around, making sure that no one other than Jack and Jess could hear he, though she had no idea why she was concerned about that, seeing as if anyone asked her she'd probably just tell them.

"Truthfully? _Jessica Jones_ and _Narcos_."

"Really?" Jack said. "I've been watching Narcos too."

" _Jessica Jones_? Wow. I never would've guessed you'd watch something that dark," Jess said.

"Well, I'm not really in the loop on all this Marvel stuff," Emily said. "I ended up watching the whole thing, but I only started because I swear I recognized the lead actress from the show. I think Rory went to Yale with her."

Jess raised an eyebrow. "I imagine if Rory had gone to college with Krysten Ritter she'd have said something by now. At least after she was on _Breaking Bad_."

* * *

Rory Gilmore leaned against the wall, watching the odd display on the other side of the room with a mix of emotions.

"You okay?" a voice said, and Rory was almost startled. She didn't hear or see Lane coming up to stand beside her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rory said. "Lane, tell me. Am I weird for thinking it's weird that Jess and my grandma seem to be getting along?"

"Why would that be weird?" Lane said.

Rory thought about it, and had to admit she had no idea why she felt that way. Sadly, the lack of a logical reason wasn't enough to make her stop.

"I don't know," Rory admitted. "It just… is."

Lane shrugged. "I guess. Now, if Jess and my mom were being friendly like that, that would be pretty effing weird."

The End… because the writer couldn't think of a better one.


End file.
